Dumbing down UP

The congressman who authored the Iskolar ng Bayan Act of 2014 claimed in news media reports that the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines (UP) alone can take in as freshmen scholars all of the top 10 graduating students of all the high schools in the entire Philippines.

Based on the lawmakers own data, that would translate to 80,000 freshmen entering UP  from the Iskolar ng Bayan Act, and not even counting those who would make it to UP through the dreaded UPCAT or the UP College Admission Test. Of course, the 80,000 would want to be in UP before entertaining thoughts of going to other state universities and colleges (SUCs).

Under the Iskolar ng Bayan Act, the top 10 graduates of all high schools in the Philippines get free entry into any and all SUCs within their region without the need to take entrance exams.  Their scholarships would also be automatic in the first year.  While UP insists it has autonomy and is not covered by the Iskolar ng Bayan Act, the latter’s authors insist otherwise. Surely, this conflict between the UP Law and the Iskolar Act is bound to reach the courts.

The problem here is that the entire UP system can only take in about 15,000 UPCAT passers from the  about 80,000 who take the exam each year, and that’s 15,000  UPCAT passers scattered in all seven of UP’s constituent universities in 15 campuses nationwide.

So how can UP Diliman or even the entire UP system, for that matter, accommodate 80,000 automatic freshmen entries under the Iskolar ng Bayan Act?  It’s like trying to pour onto a glass the entire content of a pitcher. Likewise, did this law   even consider the fact that many high schools in the country find themselves without any representation in UP  at any given year for the simple reason that sometimes none of their students are able to pass the UPCAT?

What happens if this law forces the top 10 graduates of even the lousiest high schools in the Philippines to be in UP? The dropouts of students who would find that they could not hack it out in UP would be atrocious. It’s altogether difficult to pass the UPCAT, but it’s way tougher to stay and graduate in UP. That’s a fact no law can change.  

What law would then be passed next? To dumb down  the UP system so as not only to accommodate 80,000 new freshmen but also to ensure they’d graduate? That would be a disgrace as UP at present is the only Philippine university ranked within the top 100 in Asia and the only Philippine school ranked within the top 300 universities in the world.

When that happens, Oble would just get down his perch and walk out. – END-

Image by: Deigong Tabak